Methods and systems for improving electric energy storage device durability for a stop/start vehicle

Abstract

Systems and methods for restarting an engine are presented. In one example, an engine may be automatically stopped and started in response to thresholds that may be adjusted as a distance traveled by the vehicle increases. The thresholds may be adjusted responsive to useful life consumed of devices that may participate in automatic engine starting and stopping.

Description

FIELD[0001]The present description relates to a system and methods for improving durability of components for a vehicle with an engine that may be automatically stopped and started. The methods may be particularly useful for extending component life while still enabling automatic engine starting and stopping.BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY[0002]A vehicle may include an engine that may be automatically stopped and restarted without a driver of the vehicle specifically requesting an engine stop and start. The engine may be automatically stopped and restarted to conserve fuel. The engine may be stopped when the driver of the vehicle is not requesting torque while the vehicle is moving or while the vehicle is stopped. Before the engine is automatically stopped, a controller may require that certain conditions be met. For example, the controller may require that electric energy storage device state of charge is higher than a threshold, an electrical load applied to the vehicle electrical system i...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent text describes a method that adjusts the automatic stopping and starting of an engine based on the amount of energy stored in the vehicle's battery. This can decrease the frequency of automatic engine stops and starts, allowing the components to operate over their expected lifespan. The method also allows for relatively high fuel efficiency while still allowing automatic engine stopping and starting. The system can adjust the thresholds for stopping and starting based on the percentage of battery life consumed, and can make the stopping and starting conditions more or less rigorous depending on how the engine has been previously started and stopped. The method can be applied to various types of components and can allow them to meet their lifespan without being designed for extreme duty cycles.

Problems solved by technology

Vehicle components used to automatically stop and start the engine may be constructed to provide the engine start / stop functionality over a predetermined vehicle travel distance even when the engine is frequently stopped and started; however, the cost of producing such vehicle components may be prohibitive.

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